June 1, 2005
Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Publishers want to know what writer will be the next JK Rowling and what book will be the next Sorceror's Stone. They want to know who the next Dan Brown will be, too, and frankly, if publishers would concentrate on promoting their existing authors instead of searching for lightning in a bottle we'd all be better off, but hey! I already know the answer here.

I just finished interviewing Rick Riordan for an interview/profile I'm writing about his upcoming children's novel, The Lightning Thief. Rick is a terrific mystery author--his novels starring P.I. Tres Navarre are great reads, and he has a new one of those--Missionary Road--coming out at the end of June. On the same day he's also coming out with The Lightning Thief, by another publisher (Hyperion). I read The Lightning Thief this weekend and I'm here to tell people it's great. If you're a pre-teen, it's great. It'll work for you as an adult, too.

The story? Percy Jackson is a troubled kid, 11 or 12 years old, with AHDD and dyslexia. Strange things happen to him. He discovers that he is a half-blood, the son of a Greek god. Monsters try to kill half-bloods, but when their age is appropriate--if they survive--they go to a summer camp in New York state--Camp Half-Blood, where they are trained to be heroes and other necessary skills for demi-gods. [In a move that amused me no end, the camp is run by Mr. D, or Dionysus, who has hit the wagon as punishment for something he did a hundred years ago or so]. It is at this camp that Percy, who is the son of Poseidon, is given a quest. Someone has stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt, and he must retrieve it--and rescue his mother at the same time. With another demi-god and a satyr, Percy proceeds cross-country with a variety of monsters and Fates in hot pursuit, battling them with his magical sword Riptide, eventually journeying to the underworld for an encounter with Hades.

It was fun to talk to Rick. He graciously blurbed my first novel, Dirty Deeds, and we're close in age with both having sons the same age. For me, anyway, it was a fun interview and I think it'll be a good piece to coincide with the publication of The Lightning Thief. (June 28, 2005). I thought the book was a hoot, and there's a script being written of it, and the Disney execs are hot on it, passing advanced copies around, creating a lot of buzz. It's legitimate, though. There's a lot to the book. Comparisons to Harry Potter are probably a little unfair for both authors, but Percy Jackson holds up reasonably well on his own.

There. I've gone ahead and done a pre-review review. Check it out for yourself at Rick's website, www.rickriordan.com

Best,
Mark Terry